Quick reference to resolving pulsating air issue cause by liftgate

I know there are multiple threads here referencing the pulsating air issue caused by the rear hatch. After thinking I had resolved the issue almost a year ago, I realized that there was an additional adjustment that could be made, and that there was some confusion as to what to adjust and how. So I thought I'd drop this post as a definitive reference for resolving the issue.

Issue
While driving, especially on rough surfaces, there is an air pressure pulsation that occurs, similar to what happens when one window is partially or completely down while the vehicle travels at high speeds. This pulsation may be very noticeable and annoying to some while being undetectable to others.

Cause
The rubber stoppers that the rear liftgate rest on are not adjusted properly and the liftgate is vibrating, causing the pulsations.

Fix
Adjust all four stoppers. Here is a reference pic of the stoppers and their locations.



Stopper A adjustment is easy. Get a thin slip of paper and place it on Base A. Close the liftgate. If you can easily slide the paper out, adjust Stopper A out a quarter of a turn and try again. When you can no longer pull the paper out easily, they should be in a good position. Do the same for the other side.

Drive the car around to see how this changed the pulsating issue and then adjust Stopper B if necessary

If you still have a pulsating issue, even a very minor issue (as I did), it will be resolved by adjusting Stopper B. I just extended Stopper B out a couple of turns on each side and the last little bit of pulsating went away completely. It's like a whole new car. I stopped there and didn't try to figure out a test for Stopper B. I'll note that just extending the stoppers all the way out is probably not the best idea, adjust them a little at a time until the issue is resolved.

 

I guess it wasn't clear that I was referring to all four stopper adjustments, but only show one on each side to keep the image from getting too cluttered. I'll edit to clarify.

EDIT: apparently I can't edit the original post now .. but hopefully it won't be confusing to others

 

Good idea on the re-check! Wish I could edit the original post...

For me it was a severe issue initially due to one of my "A" stoppers being turned all the way in, leaving an air gap between it and the base. For a while I thought there was a major seal/gasket issue with one of the doors or something. Both of my "B" stoppers were also turned all the way in, but I didn't realize they were adjustable until just recently. The "A" stopper adjustment fixed it 90% of the way and the "B" the last 10%....